Inclement weather forces flight diversion

Air India Express Flight IX-812 from Dubai that was scheduled to land at Mangalore airport at 6.30 a.m. on Wednesday had to be diverted to Kozhikode because of bad weather, Station Manager of the airline Chellam Prasad said.

The flight finally landed in the city at 9.45 a.m., she said.

The same flight was supposed to depart for Doha and Bahrain at 9 a.m., but could take off only at 1.45 p.m., because the Captain who was supposed to fly the plane could not arrive on time. According to Ms. Prasad, the Captain was scheduled to land in a flight from Delhi, but, that flight was cancelled due to technical problems. He then had to take another flight via Mumbai, she said.

Meanwhile, reports in certain sections of the media claimed that the plane had skidded off the runway, creating panic among relatives of passengers. Some panic-stricken relatives from Kasargod in Kerala and Bhatkal in Uttara Kannada district spoke to The Hindu for confirmation on the issue.

Top Air India officials, who did not wish to be named, told The Hindu that the matter is being taken up “very seriously” with the media organisations that carried the reports.